


Bright, Sparkling

by grandmelon



Series: SouRin Summer Fest 2016 [8]
Category: Free!
Genre: Festivals, Fireworks, Friendship/Love, Love, M/M, SouRin Summer Fest 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 09:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7796395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grandmelon/pseuds/grandmelon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SouRin Summer Fest - Week Six - Matsuri / Obon </p><p>Fireworks bursting in the sky pale in comparison to how amazing it is to look at the one you love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bright, Sparkling

**Author's Note:**

> Still bad at summaries and naming, but I had a lot of fun writing this fic :) and only two more weeks to go!!! Time’s flying by so fast!!!

The dark night, illuminated by stars in the clear sky, felt open and stifling. The sea air was warm, humid even, the day barely having cooled off. The stalls lining the streets full of smoke and lights, everyone’s laughter and talking only increasing the heavy atmosphere.

 

Maybe it was just him, maybe only he felt a heaviness in the air.

 

Rin licked his lips, the sweet and savory tastes of the vendor’s foods still on his tongue. Blindly following his friends as they went further from the festival and to a darker part of the beach to watch the fireworks, he took a sparing glance at Sousuke. The other was walking just in front of him, an unusually large smile on his face as he spoke, entertained by whatever conversation he was caught up in. It was nice to see him so relaxed, looking like he was enjoying himself.

 

It felt too unreal, the knowledge of Sousuke’s injury still plaguing him, though Sousuke seemed lighter than before. Like he could breathe easy, like a weight had been lifted, and maybe it had. They hadn’t gotten to talk about it as much as he would have liked, but Sousuke had been so happy after the relay Rin wasn’t sure what to say. He knew Sousuke didn’t regret a thing, and it kept his tongue tied, because he understood how the other felt, but there were things he wanted to tell him.

 

As the group of Samezuka students took seats at the edge of the beach, waiting for the fireworks, Rin pulled back, sitting further from the group. He felt a tug at his heart when Sousuke looked back at him, slipping away to join him. He sat down, not too close, not too far away, resting his arms on his knees as he looked up at the sky.

 

“You okay?” he asked. Rin made a noise in the back of his throat, stretching before leaning on his knees, looking at the rowdy group in front of them.

 

“Yeah, just thinking,” Rin said, shrugging and looking out at the ocean. Little lights floating in the dark water, disturbed by the waves.

 

“About Australia? Have you decided on taking Nanase with you?”

 

“No—I mean yeah I’m taking Haru I think he needs it, but that wasn’t what I was thinking about,” Rin admitted, looking back at his companion. Sousuke’s face was soft in the shadows, the angles smoothed out by creeping shadows blending all together. He looked at him, a question in his eyes and Rin felt his lips twitch, feeling just a bit better.

 

Before anything else could be said a deafening crack echoed across the horizon, bright sparkling light falling to the ocean. Sousuke’s attention turned up to the sky, his face lit with every bang and flash of the multicolored lights. The booms and the bangs and the snaps and fizzles shook Rin’s heart, his breath picking up as the ghost of an idea flitted through his mind.

 

He opened his mouth, a question on his lips, hesitation holding him still.

 

“That firework kind of looks like a fucked up shark,” Sousuke said and Rin stopped, confusion and curiosity forcing him to look up at the night sky. There a wonky horizontal line was already falling.

 

“No it doesn’t?” Rin said, turning to Sousuke, wondering what the other was talking about.

 

“You weren’t watching,” Sousuke said, turning to him, eyes serious. The dip of his brow and the soft frown on his lips. “What’s bothering you?”

 

A loud clash and three little cracks ran out in the night sky and Rin watched, the sparkling lights reflected in Sousuke’s eyes. He steeled himself, voice soft and failing him as even large booms covered up his words, Sousuke turning his head and leaned closer to hear. The heaviness of the night crushed him and without knowing where it would take him he leaned forward, pressing dry lips against the soft skin of Sousuke’s cheek, gentle but firm before pulling back.

 

Sousuke was frozen, his gaze stuck in front of them before dropping and turning back to him. The eyes lifting to meet his were shocked, and glossy, and easily giving him the most innocent and sweet look he had seen since they were small. It lifted Rin, his worries feeling light and his fears disappearing under those eyes as he leaned forward again, rubbing the tip of his nose against Sousuke’s leaning their foreheads together and letting him make the choice. Watching the other gazing back at him, as if searching him for answers before fluttering closed. Warm and soft lips pressed against his and he felt a warmth in his chest he had missed.

 

He pressed back, a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding leaving him, hand creeping forward to grab the one that had landed between them, lacing their fingers. When they separated Rin took a cautious glance back at their group, relaxing as he saw them all very focused on the light show above. He heard Sousuke ask him a question, voice softer and weaker than he had ever heard it. He smiled at him, lips sliding up to his ear with every intention of answering him. The heart thumping in his chest louder than all the noise around them combined.

 

“I love you.”

 

He felt Sousuke’s chest swell with the intake of his breath, head dropping to Rin’s shoulder and other hand grabbing onto his arm. Shocked only a little, Rin let his own head rest against Sousuke’s shoulder, closing his eyes and feeling a slight dampness on his shirt collar.

 

“Me too,” he heard, a pause in the fireworks, a sign the grand finale soon to come. “Rin, always. Always, I’ve—I love you, too.” The start of snapping and whizzing interrupting them, the cheers, whoops, and hollering of their peers covering up what more could be said.

 

A cool summer breeze passed over them and it was like all the muck and the humidity and haze of the world disappeared as he wound his free arm around Sousuke, pulling him close. The warmth between them dry and comforting. When the fireworks stopped they let go of each other, a laziness to their movements, neither wanting to leave the other. Rin held out his hand after standing up, smiling at the other as he allowed him to help him up.

 

The cries and exclamations of their friends brought their attention back to the world and Rin let go of his hand.

 

“We’ll talk when we get back, yeah?”

 

Sousuke smiled at him, and it was far brighter and far more heart pounding than any colored lights in the sky. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://melonmachinery.tumblr.com)


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